"Thousands of Russian Corpses Piled Up to Their Height"... Russia Suspected of Mass Burial of War Dead

Ukraine Releases Audio Recording of Suspected Russian Soldier's Phone Call

On the 3rd of last month (local time), soldiers in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, are inspecting the wreckage of Russian army tanks, armored vehicles, and military vehicles. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] There are claims that Russia has mass-buried the bodies of its fallen soldiers in order to conceal casualties among its troops.

On the 10th (local time), according to the British daily The Times, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) released a recording on Facebook that was obtained by intercepting a phone call between a Russian soldier and an acquaintance.

In the call, a person presumed to be a Russian soldier said, "Thousands of bodies of Russian soldiers are piled up to the height of a person at a mass burial site in Donetsk Province in eastern Ukraine." This was information directly confirmed and reported by the sister of a fellow soldier who was classified as 'missing in action.'

He continued, "Basically, there is a kind of disposal site (where the bodies are gathered). They (the fallen soldiers) are stacked overlapping each other," and said that the sister of the missing soldier gave a considerable bribe to the officials in charge to find her brother's body there.

He said, "The pile of bodies was as tall as a person. She said there were thousands of bodies there. (For the Russian military) it is easier to just throw them there carelessly and say they are missing in action."

He added, "This is not a morgue but a disposal site," and "They fence off this place and prevent anyone from entering."

Meanwhile, the Russian military is known to have suffered significant casualties during the war that has lasted over two months. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense estimates the number of Russian military fatalities at about 26,000 so far, claiming that 12 generals have been killed. British intelligence authorities announced last month that the number of Russian military deaths is estimated at 15,000.

On the other hand, Russia has not provided detailed updates on casualties since announcing at the end of March, one month after the invasion, that 1,351 soldiers had died.